Poverty, Ethics and Justice

Paper $40.00ISBN: 9780708325711
Published
May 2013
For sale in North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand only

Cloth $130.00ISBN: 9780708324004
Published
August 2011
For sale in North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand only

Poverty violates fundamental human values through its impact on individuals and on human environments, and it goes against the core values of democratic societies. Drawing on numerous scientific studies as well as his own experience witnessing the systematic poverty in his home country of South Africa, H. P. P. [Hennie] Lötter presents a holistic profile of poverty and its effects on human lives all the while accounting for the complexity of each individual case. He argues that shared ethical values must guide the planning and distribution of aid and that our society must reevaluate our notions of justice and reimagine the role of the state in order to enable collective human responsibility for poverty’s successful eradication.

Part 1: The Complexity of Poverty as a Moral Issue1. Are We One Another’s Keepers Across the Globe?2. Defining Poverty as Distinctively Human3. Why the Inequality of Poverty is Morally Wrong4. Poverty Violates Fundamental Human Values5. Poverty’s Impact on Human Environment6. Poverty as Threat to Democratic Values7. Why Poverty is Such a Complex AffairPart 2: The Complexity of Moral Ways to Eradicate Poverty8. Ethics for Eradicating Poverty9. Justice as Poverty Prevention10. Do We Do This Alone or Together?11. Re-Imagining Governance to Eradicate Poverty Permanently12. Compensating for Impoverishing Injustices of the Distant Past

Conclusion: A Theory of Poverty and its EradicationNotesBibliographyIndex

Review Quotes

R. Ward | Choice

“Thoroughly supported by broad research and vivid description, this book makes a compelling case for the eradication of poverty as a complex and central moral focus. Highly recommended.”

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